Tag Lines and Sailing Ships

Walnut Ships that really float!

A ship's whistle blows in the distance...  the smell of salty ocean air encircles your feet and suddenly you find yourself on a great homeschooling adventure!

I was reading my by line this morning.... something about the "tempestuous sea of liberty" and having to navigate through it.  How true!  Homeschooling is like that.  You learn quickly to think of what you are doing as an adventure... The kids get sick, errands call and yet there is a home to manage and bookwork to do.... and worse of all you do not always know where this homeschooling journey will end up, and then you end up wonder if it's all just some strange experiment you want to run aground.

Things can seem quite unsure as you are homeschooling... and worse....there is no one to tell you want to do and not do.  How do you even know if you can be sure that the kids are learning enough?  How can you know for sure that they are learning what they need to know... to keep up with kids in school... or more importantly to live?

Yes, well, we "know" they are learning "everything they need to know"... and how "to live " in regular school..... well,  maybe.  Seems a bit of and experiment there as well.  But there is certainly a tug at every homeschoolers heart to wonder if "school" and "school experts" really do know best.  Rest assured...  it's anybody's guess.  There are simply no guarantees...either way and chances are if you are reading this, interested in homeschool or if you have been homeschooling for more than a month, it is because you already decided that school was just as experimental as homeschooling ever could be.  The important thing to do what you have given heed to homeschooling past that kindergarten mark is be confident that homeschooling is what you would like to do.

So here you stand, label now as a "homeschooler."  Now what?  What lies ahead?  IS there any end in sight, and what if you set sail and don;t like it?  Is it possibly to fail?

Truth is, you just never know what a day will bring, and each day, in a public schoolroom or not, has enough trouble of it's own.... but still there you are, standing.   Good.   Look before you and see that there is a whole world to explore and learn about!

With such a seemingly daunting task before you, if you are like me, you probably think to yourself, "I do not even know where to begin!" This is where you simply tie a knot onto the idea of homeschooling and hang on!  (Just be careful what it is you tie your knot to!)   And remember this:  There are no guarantees in life.  IT really is all the grace of God.   It is a matter of one thing at a time and then that thing will lead you to the next.  Your journey, each child's journey, is bound to be very different from anybody else's too.   So begin with the basics and let your learning branch out from there.  If you need to regroup, get back to the basics.  Go back and look to see what your rope is tied to.

Whatever you do, love your kids.  Try to make every moment with your kids special, memorable or meaningful and they will do just fine.  One thing is certain, the adventure you embark on in homeschooling is uniquely yours and because it is yours you can pretty much do any curriculum or learning activities and experiences that you would like...as long as you have the conviction of heart that what you are doing is worth your while. IT really is your boat, and the open sea is calling.


As you travel the seas, no doubt there will be a lot of books and resources vying for your attention, offering to help you navigate along the way.  Everyone wants to sell you their shiny little trinket... and make a profit, so remember, in terms of your kids, the very best resource is... you, and not only that, it's your ship.  You can land it, beach it, dock it, winter it, whenever you like.  You can toss unnecessary things overboard or get new cargo anytime you like, and more importantly, these are your kids. 

Where will you end up?  Where will this adventure take you?  God only knows for sure, but one this for sure, it will take you to that place where your child is older and much wiser, ready to embark on his or her own individual journey into some aspect of the outside world with a trusty rope tied to the most important things in life...and it will be love, family... a love of learning and best of all, a sense of home.

How long will you be "homeschooling" is never predetermined.  Most people only get to do it until the child is age five or six....then they send them off to be schooled.  Some only homeschool until their are six weeks old... then they send them off to nursery or preschool; but for homeschoolers, it can be till twelve or fourteen, even college, that is,  if your homeschooling spirit doth persist!

Wherever your homeschooling journey begins, or whenever you find yourself in the doldrums... (been there a few times myself) one thing you can be sure of is the freedom to homeschool your own children, to select your own curriculum, to have the time to learn things interesting to you without school bell interruptions and school board calendars to keep... even to build or to rebuild the "sailing ship" you are on... is awesome.

For me, as I look to the horizon from where my ship sails as it has for the last 17 years... I now find myself feeling a bit like an old rugged sailor, and I find myself saying something new and quite foreign to me....

"Land Ho!"

What Isn't A Homeschool Support Group?

Ever thought of being part of a homeschool group?  My group has met three times so far this school year...

The group I am a part of is a group of moms who meet once a month... away from kids who are home with dads and sitters.  We discuss all sorts of things, mostly "homeschooling" issues, but more importantly we are there to make friends with other women who are also homeschooling their own kids each day.  From these friendships relationships form and people end up doing various activings focused on learning together.  It's like a sort of extended family in some ways, like school in others, but the best part is the friendship, concern and love.  Overall, I find that we are a very diverse and independant group, which is why I am writing... to tell you what a "Homeschool Support Group"  isn't.

These groups are often called, homeschool "support" groups, as if they are an addiction recovery type of psychological support system, but that is a bit of a misnomer.  Homeschoolers are quite independent people who, like Americans' should, love freedom.  They believe in truth and justice and live peacably with others.... whenever they can.... and they love their families and their friends.  If you homeschool for any length of time you will soon discover how independent and how independently-thinking these people who homeschool really are.

Most homeschoolers figure out pretty quickly that they need to figure out what works for themselves and for their kids when it comes to homeschooling.  At first some think they need "support,"  They think that someone needs to tell them what to do, but usually they figure out that they can tailor learning to each individual child... and they really do not want anyone telling them what to do, they just want to know if something someone else is doing might work for them.

Homeschool groups are places to learn more about what is out there on the book and multimedi shelves a place to consider what curriculum to use, and borrow stuff someone else will no longer use.  When you think "support," remember that homeschoolers are often self-sufficient and very resourceful people.   More often than not, discussing ways to protect homeschool laws, family issues and preserving parental rights for future generations is what these "support groups" do and in many instances, this is why they exist at all.
 
Think about it.  The strength of family as an institution is the support homeschoolers have when they come together as a homeschool group.  This stems also from the idea of parental love and a parent's natural desire to interact and teach their kids good things about life and the world.,  It is this that makes  homeschooling work at all.  Yes, homeschoolers tend to have an independent sort of mindset; and it is often quite separate and distinct from the state-run, performance-based, overcrowded, sold out to the highest bidder, overworked (and forever "underpaid" ) system of the public school.  There is power in being a family, even if your family is  lead by a single parent.  Behind homeschooling is ultimately the power of love, and love is perfect for growing vibrant, happy, well-adjusted, thoughtful, inquisitive and well-educated kids.

This is not to say that "schools," even public schools,  "are bad;" No, here in Spokane, there are good schools and bad.  We have a lot of great schools where families are still the backbone of the comminuty, where people are valued and kids are more than simply a number on the page.  There are good schools where teachers actually work, hard.... and they do it for more than just the pay.   They love learning and they love kids; this is just to say that school can be a battleground, and all schools, like individuals are not the same.  This is also to say that at the core, homeschooling really is about loving and educating kids, a loving home and a loving community is the focus.   Hence the homeschooling group concept....  the homeschooling community.

When it comes to being part of a homeschooling "support "group, beware of the misnomer.  It's never mandatory to be apart of these groups, and those who are in them are not there because the public school model they left behind is somehow lacking while in the home,  No, it's because we are people in community.  We already love what we are doing... being a family, raising and spending precious time with our growing kids, training them to do the right things and educating them in freedom....  being in a homeschool group is more to give support than get.  It's a place to lend a helping hand.

There are several homeschooling groups that meet in Spokane.  Each is unique and serves the homeschooling community in different ways.  Some exist to create learning environments, like field trips, or playtimes, children getting the opportunity to associate with other kids.  Some want kids to have interaction with other trusted adults or for their kids to try new things, make new friends , so parents offer to teach classes they would do already for their own kids (figuring that a couple more would make it more affordable and fun.)  Some simply want to pool resources, hire a skilled teacher independently in order to provide a particular course of study or a class.  Other groups exist for mailing lists, for phone chains and for keeping people informed of political issues that affect Washington state's homeschooling laws, and things like that.  So, if you are homeschooling,or thinking about homeschooling, take a moment and contact these groups.  Find one that is appealing to you or start your own.

When it comes to homeschooling "support" groups, remember, it's not about what the group is, but what it isn't  These groups are not about getting "support," no, we are all quit independent!  Homeschool support groups are about giving, finding out where YOU can lend a helping hand.

Homeschooling groups, in the world of homeschooling, are never mandatory...though they might need your commitment.  They are not even necessary. but they are helpful and often they provide an extension of your individual family, a sort of love-based community where everyone is valued.  If you are new to homeschooling you might consider being part of or starting your own homeschooling group, because in the end, this is another way that you and your homeschooling children can bloom and grow as you set out on your learning adventure (homeschool) together.
                                                                                               (LB)

NEw Link Added

I added a new link today... http://www.c-spanclassroom.org/.  My friend Lori H. who recommended it to me for my blog, says this is a good one with great freebies for educators.  Maybe this site will have something you are looking for.

NEW! Selkirk Homeschoolers!

I attended the meeting up north for the Selkirk Homeschoolers.  Wow!  It was fantastic, encouraging, and a beautiful drive.  Ion, where the meeting was, is a great place to visit and explore.

The guest speaker, from a Spokane bookstore that sells homeschooling books, was right on track giving information about beginning to homeschool to those in attendance.  She also spoke to  those of us who have been homeschooling a while, giving us a bit of encouragement.  This was the first meeting of this new group and there were about 25 in attendance.

 Homeschooling is appealing to a lot of people for a lot of reasons, and we were a diverse group of people from a lot of different walks of life... Professionals were there as well as stay at home moms; men as well as women wand there were current homeschooling students there too. Homeschooling is not unusual or impossible to do.  Lot's of people teach their own children to read and write and oversee their own children's educational welfare outside of the public education realm and people choose to do this... they educate their kids outside of the public school classroom and outside the public school funding for a lot of different reasons.  Whatever your reason, homeschooling is a worthwhile and viable educational option.

I am limited in photos, but we were all encouraged that day.